Week 6
Thursday, October 20th, 2022
Things to See in Week 6: Examining Knowing and Learning
Artefact Checklist of Learning Outcomes
Artefact: Learning As Social Interaction Slide Presentation
Artefact: Learning As Making Distinctions
Article:
Resources
Week 6 included Learning As Presentations
Learning as Social Interaction (Wendy, Dan, Rox, Jessica, Priscilla)
Learning as Making Distinctions (Erika, Kyle, Jamelia, Sharlene, Sheryll, Toufan)
Learning as Social Interaction
The Learning as Social Interaction Group consisted of Priscilla (Choi Ha) Chan, Jessica Forsyth, Rox Hayward, Dan Sooley, and me. Those who follow this theory include Vygotsky and Lave & Wenger. This group worked very well together. Each was willing to play their part and to add thoughts and ideas to the material produced by others. We assisted each other with the Reference list. The only thing that caused a challenge with this project was the submission of a reading to be posed for the other groups to read before our lesson. I volunteered to do this task. Much to my horror, I chose and submitted an article that was not peer reviewed and which came from a predatory journal. This occurred the week after I stayed past the end of class to participate in a discussion on articles where the author pays to have them included in a predatory journal which does not offer peer reviews, Beall’s List and the Directory of Open Access Journals.
Reflection
This learning as experience adventure is one that will increase my vigilance and sense of timing to allow for looking through journals of good standing to seek worthy articles to back up my perspectives. I was greatly appreciative that the professor did not bring up the sordid incident although I did send a note of apology on behalf of the group and a second note of apology to Dan who sent the article I recommended to the teacher. It will remind me to be vigilant.
Learning as Making Distinctions
The Learning as Making Distinctions Group included Erika Grogan, Kyle Trivett, Jamelia Gay, Sharlene Lawrence-Bryce, Sheryll Smith, and Toufan Arieb. Theorists include Marton, van Manen, Husserl, and Sartre. This presentation called for looking at context. There were several Jamboard activities where we were asked to look at an image, like a well-dressed, male-bodied, person of colour talking with a person with their back to the camera sporting long hair and a jean jacket. We were asked to add stickies to indicate what we thought was happening in the photograph. A number of students found it a challenge to determine what we were supposed to do. As a result, my group had few stickies. With the help from the Making Distinctions Group who popped into our breakout room, we soon understood and were able to add plenty of stickies to the following photographs.
Reflection
I found it interesting that the people in the group added stickies that demonstrated their sense of humour. Their interpretations of the photographs were silly or honest while some were sensitive but they all made the point that how we look at life. How we observe, judge, or accept colours our reaction. Looking at an event as positive or negative frames our responses to it. Derek Cabrera of Cornell University (2022) explains that we create boundaries when we make distinctions. Those judgements allow us to quickly marginalize or other people. We should guard against this by being open-eyed and open minded with our students. During the debrief, we came to realize that it didn’t matter what was happening, the point was we all saw something different; we came upon our perspectives from different points of view. By the time we got to the third slide, it was much easier to look at the picture and realize that anything within reason would be an acceptable answer. This was an excellent exercise to reinforce the lesson that a teacher needs to know their students to understand what is happening.